I really use it far too often. It's gotten to the point where it intrudes on every portion of my life, even interfering with social activities. It makes me nervous and jittery, and despite its benefits, I often wonder whether I wouldn't be better without it. But even though I know I shouldn't overuse it, I do -- many times a day. You might think I'm talking about alcohol, coffee or energy drinks, but nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, I confess that I am a slave to that harsh mistress: e-mail.
The glory days of electronic mail were probably back in the mid-1990s, when the technology really began to be widely used. When I finally got my first e-mail account, it was quite a rush. This might seem laughable, but consider things from a '90s child's perspective. One might not have the ability to drive places, vote, buy lottery tickets or anything like that, but e-mail was something new and wonderful. You could send a message and your friend could get it in a few minutes! You could get free newsletters about your favorite topics! You could even send around dirty jokes, bypassing the locker room completely, which was always a good thing.
Instant messaging, of course, stole a lot of e-mail's thunder once it arrived on the scene. But e-mail has stayed with us, becoming embedded in our daily lives. Most everybody now has several e-mail accounts. It remains an important way to communicate with friends, professors, organizations and classes across the University as a whole.
Given all of that, it's sometimes shocking to examine one's e-mail inbox and see what's being served up. Some important messages about classes and important events, yes. But also a myriad of invitations to events in which one has no interest, endless bulletins from lists that are hard to unsubscribe from and every now and then a cleverly worded solicitation to increase one's virility on the cheap.
You would think that because of this I would not check my e-mail exceedingly often. You would be wrong. The morning can't get off on the right foot without a good e-mail check. Another one after lunch eases the digestion. Unwinding in the afternoon is impossible until the e-mail has been dealt with. And of course, checking e-mail one more time before bed is almost as obligatory as brushing teeth.
It doesn't help that there are so many ways to get e-mail. It's on my PC; it's at the library, in Newcomb and everywhere in between through the magic of WebMail. This creates a striking amount of e-mail dependency on our part -- and if you don't believe that, witness the disorder that accompanied the recent crash of the University's mail server. You'd think somebody had made off with the Rotunda.
This trend only becomes more pronounced once we leave the University for the "real world." Then, there's e-mail at every desk, updated constantly. It's even possible to get one's e-mail on portable devices such as the Blackberry. Grown men carry these things around in holsters as though they were in the Wild West. Even though I know that will probably be me someday, it's still a sad thing to see. At that point, it's the e-mail that is checking you, not the other way around.
Why do we monitor our e-mail so constantly, to the point that it becomes excessive? There are certainly many legitimate reasons to do so. E-mail is often one of the quickest ways to disseminate information, especially in an emergency. Because of its speed, it's also the favorite tool of those scalawags who like to change the time of events at the last minute. There's nothing more painful than showing up to a 6 p.m. meeting that got rescheduled to 7 at 5:45 and being greeted with that sassy slap in the face, "Didn't you get the e-mail?"
On another level, though, e-mail provides us with a sense of validation as people. It's nice to receive periodic confirmations that one is still plugged into the human community, especially after being buried in the library stacks for hours and deprived of human contact.
Like it or not, e-mail is probably with us for good, at least until something better comes along. But we can prevent it from bringing down our civilization by following some simple rules: n checking more than once per hour. Clean out the inbox frequently -- it's important to know when to let go of that invite from two months ago. And if presented with the opportunity to increase your virility, just say no. That money would be better invested with that Nigerian prince who needs you to wire him some cash.
Matt's column runs biweekly on Tuesdays. He can be reached at mwaring@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | 4 days agoWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 6 days agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
